On Sunday, March 23, just hours before closing out the 2025 season, Luke Bryan officially became the 11th inductee into the Star Trail of Fame, the highest honor that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo can bestow on an artist.
And with good reason, as Bryan has four shows in RodeoHouston’s list of the Top 25 most-attended shows of all time and Sunday afternoon’s show -- his 12th since 2012 -- had an attendance of 71,103, proving that he’s a magnet for ticket sales.
The 48-year-old Bryan joins Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Charley Pride, Elvis Presley, Gene Autry, George Strait, Reba, Roy Rogers, and Selena into the hallowed wall of fame on NRG Center’s second floor. The last artist to be inducted into the club was Brad Paisley back in 2023.
Bryan kicked the final night of RodeoHouston’s 2025 musical campaign just after 6:45 pm with
“That’s My Kind Of Night” from 2012, one of the songs that cemented his status as rodeo royalty. Even pushing 50, Bryan’s swiveling hips and skinny jeans still elicit screams from a Houston crowd. Since 2012, he played for over 1 million Houstonians. His record concert attendance remains 75,242 in 2013.
Speaking of screaming, Bryan lead tequila communion just before kickstarting “One Margarita,” wielding a tiny red Solo cup. Like any self-respecting celebrity in 2025 he of course has a partnership with a tequila brand — in this case Casa Azul.
“Love You, Miss You, Mean It” came from his latest LP Mind of a Country Boy, which was released in September 2024. Like Paisley earlier this season, Bryan’s cuts are beginning to turn nostalgic as the years and decades add up. Next up was “What Makes You Country,” which was his response to the backlash against so-called bro-country back in 2017. On Sunday night, Bryan helped lead the twin-guitar and banjo attack.
The mourning ballad “Drink A Beer,” which was written by Chris Stapleton, gave Bryan a chance to commune with the crowd by himself. Bryan and Stapleton debuted it together in 2013. It was written during a flurry of hit songwriting activity just a couple of years before Stapleton put the industry in his back pocket with his own Traveller album. When Bryan gets contemplative, like on “Buy Dirt” or “Huntin’, Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day,” he can win over even the most grizzled traditionalist.
Bryan closed out the 93rd edition of RodeoHouston with his genre-defining “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” taking a victory lap on the rodeo dirt, pressing the flesh, signing cowboy hats, making core memories, and tipping his baseball cap to the crowd.
Let the citywide RodeoHouston hangover commence.
Setlist
That’s My Kind Of Night
Rain Is A Good Thing
One Margarita
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Love You, Miss You, Mean It
What Makes You Country
Knockin’ Boots
Drunk On You
Country Song Came On
Drink A Beer
Buy Dirt
Huntin’, Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day
Play It Again
I Don’t Want This Night To End
Country Girl (Shake It For Me)
